What The Election Results Mean For Trump's Trade War

The trade war started by president Donald Trump, which is supposed to punish the Chinese, but instead, will end up hurting Americans, is still underway. But did the election results change the dynamics?

The short and simple answer is no.

Democrats and Republicans alike favor more theft of the American paycheck, and the trade war is one sneaky way to get more money flowing into their hands and out of ours.

“It’s going to be the same, if not worse, in terms of U.S.-China,” said Steven Okun of McLarty Associates according to CNBC.

The only real change Tuesday’s United States midterm elections are poised to create is simply how President Donald Trump will accomplish his domestic goals, But again, the results will likely not mean much for the country’s trade policies already demolishing the U.S.’sprecariously balanced economy. The outcome of yesterday’s elections is set to challenge Trump in several areas such as military spending and his foreign business dealings. It will also make it difficult for the commander-in-chief to pass any major legislation (a win for those who feel we are already bound to too many laws as it is).

But on trade policy, one of the areas most relevant for the international community, Trump still has the executive power to make decisions and can set the terms of foreign trade regardless of whether Congress is divided or not.

“Congress doesn’t have much of an ability to control trade policy,” analysts at RBC Capital Markets wrote in a recent note.

Rather, “the Oval Office has wide-reaching powers to act unilaterally,” which means the president is likely to “keep pushing his trade agenda,” they continued.

“While trade is not necessarily a critical issue for the Democrats, it is unlikely they will support a trade war with traditional allies like the E.U,” economists at ING said in a note published before Tuesday’s result.

“Withdrawal from the WTO (World Trade Organization) is unlikely to get a lot of support from Democrats, so overall Congress is likely to put up more resistance regarding trade policy than it did previously,” they continued.